Small or Big Brokerage? (Part 2)

I wrote last week about a big brokerage vs small brokerage for marketing your home. We did a surface level look but I think we should expand on it a little further. From personal experience I can tell you that no matter what brokerage the property comes from, as an agent, the first place I am going to see the property is in our MLS (Metrolist Listing Service). This is the system that agents use to post their properties and market them to ALL the other websites (i.e Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com). There is no bonus marketing of a property on these sites, unless they own them of course, no matter the size of your brokerage. I wanted to mention that because just recently we went on a seller interview for a potential listing and we interviewed after a bigger brokerage. The agent from the country wide brokerage touted how much the brokerage sells, how much the brokerage spends on marketing, and how important a name can be when selling a property. Everything the agent said was probably true about the country wide brokerage, but what does that have to do with selling YOUR home? The country wide brokerage spends millions of dollars on marketing per year, not to market your property, but to market their name. And to convince agents that because they do this, they somehow have more exposure than a boutique brokerage. None of that has to do with selling a home and everything to do with growing the brokerage. When we spoke to the potential seller about our approach, everything we do is focused on the property they owned and the connections that we have in the local market. That is what matters when selling your home. Our agents will get the same exposure for your listing and we have an extensive list of high producing agents that we can call directly to market your home to. We do not rely on a brokerage name to sell your property, we let our connections do that. Our advice to sellers: When you go to list your home make sure to ask specific questions about your property. How does your home compare to others on the market? Why did the house down the street sell for more than others? If your house is single story does that tend to get you more value? Does lot size matter? etc. If we can encourage anything to sellers, it's to get an agent that is full time. Someone who can answer all your questions, and someone who is going to help you navigate the market. No matter when you list your home, the market will be carrying some very specific details and a full-time agent will be able to tell you what those details are. These details determine the correct way to list your home to maximize your value. Most recently, agents have been able to just a list a house without needing to justify price, condition, or even vet buyers. But what happens when that "strategy" doesn't work? Will that big name sell your property? Or will it be the full-time agent who is deeply involved in the market? My money is on the agent with connections. -Randall Watts